Historical Commission denies removal of Memphis' Forrest statue

A demonstrator dressed as Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest is draped with a black cloth during a #TakeThemDown901 protest in front of the FedExForum before the Grizzlies game in Memphis, Tennessee., Friday, October 13, 2017. Earlier in the day, The Tennessee Historical Commission denied Memphis' request to remove a statue of Forrest from a city park.(Photo: Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal)Buy Photo

The Tennessee Historical Commission on Friday denied Memphis' request to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest from a city park.

In a small crowded library room in Athens, the commission heard from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and others for the removal of the statue, as well as arguments against, and then voted overwhelmingly against granting a waiver.

A demonstrator during a #TakeThemDown901 protest in front of the FedExForum before the Grizzlies game. Earlier in the day, The Tennessee Historical Commission denied Memphis' request to remove a statue of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal

City Attorney Bruce McMullen said he intends to file an appeal with the Chancery Court in Davidson County within the 60 days allotted by law.

Separately, the commission approved the city's request to seek a declaratory order from an administrative law judge this November on whether the city even needs a waiver to remove the statue. State lawmakers didn't add protections of historical figures to the language of the state's preservation law until 2016, after the city filed the waiver. A previous version of the law protected "war memorials" but not statues like Forrest's.

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The commission ruled against the city's request to remove the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue, but agreed to let a judge hear the city's case on a similar request.
Tyler Whetstone/USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE

“Our goal was to have it down by April 4 and we still feel strongly that we’re headed to meeting that goal," Strickland said after the meeting.

In Memphis, several dozen people associated with the group Take 'Em Down 901 wore black clothes, chanted, held signs and staged a "die-in" in which they lay on the plaza pavement outside FedExForum before the Grizzlies preseason game Friday night against New Orleans.

The demonstration included a skit in which a costumed Nathan Bedford Forrest character praised white supremacy in a broad Old South accent. The crowd booed the character, played by Joe Fennell, 31, and soon covered him up with a cloth.

Tami Sawyer, leader of the activist group organized around the social media hashtag #TakeEmDown901, said the group picked the sports venue to tie in with national anthem protests. They also wanted to contrast the facility with poverty elsewhere in the city, and she also said the venue allowed them to share the protest message with people who might not otherwise see it.

She said demonstrations will continue.

"We will continue to make this a movement," Sawyer said.

Memphis police and Sheriff's deputies watched closely, but didn't intervene, other than to tell protesters early on to step a few feet further away from the stadium within the plaza. No arrests were made, said police Col. Gloria Bullock. She said police told protesters to move so they would stay off stadium property. They continued the protest a few feet away.

The demonstration drew curious looks from fans going to the game. The demonstration didn't impede their access.

Memphis leaders might take action

The Memphis City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on an ordinance that could call for immediate removal — a move that, without state approval, would violate the law, McMullen said. Strickland said he wouldn't order any city employees to break the law — and that includes ordering them to cover the statue, McMullen said.

Council chairman Berlin Boyd said the council will explore all options to remove the statue before MLK50 in 2018, the 50th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King Jr. But without the mayor's approval, any action would be pointless, he added.

"We don't need to take an action the mayor refuses to enforce," Boyd said.

First Baptist Broad pastor Keith Norman of Memphis made the motion to vote on the city's request to remove the statue and received a second from former National Civil Rights Museum president Beverly Robertson, also of Memphis.

“Memphis is a different city than it was 100 years ago and I think some of what the statue tends to perpetuate is the notion of the old South rising again," Robertson said after the meeting. "So I don’t think it paints a true picture of the Memphis that we are now.”

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Commission member Keith Norman, of Memphis, during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

H.K. Edgerton, in Confederate Uniform, carries the Confederate flag outside of the meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

People attend a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but he's an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Chairman Reavis Mitchell Jr. during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland speaks during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

An attendee listens during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

People listen during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Attendees live stream the event during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Commission member Beverly Robertson listens during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but he's an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Douglas Jones, a Nashville lawyer, speaks during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Attendees listen during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Steven Stout, of TDEC, speaks during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

An attendee takes notes during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

People listen during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Joseph Sanders, of TDEC, speaks during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

An attendee wears a hat with the Confederate flag reading "Rebel" during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland listens during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Elizabeth Adams, a former history teacher from Memphis, makes her arguments during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Commission member Ernie Bacon listens during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Lee Miller, of Memphis, speaks during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Tami Sawyer speaks during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Brownsville lawyer David Livingston speaks during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

An attendee listens during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Don Ware speaks during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

H.K. Edgerton speaks during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

A commission member holds their head during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Attendees listen during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Commission member Keith Norman speaks with Memphis City Attorney Bruce McMullen and Mayor Jim Strickland during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.
Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Before the vote, Strickland addressed the commission, saying Memphis was "as united as I've ever seen" on the removal of the statue from Health Science Park in Downtown and citing broad support from the religious and business communities, the City Council, and Shelby County's mayor and Board of Commissioners.

"Today, we know that to be segregation," Strickland said of the impulse that erected the statue in 1905. "Today, we call it what it is. White supremacy. Today, we know that that is a shameful part of our past."

Commission member Keith Norman speaks with Memphis City Attorney Bruce McMullen and Mayor Jim Strickland during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK &ETH; later in life he denounced these views, but he&Otilde;s an extremely divisive figure in the state.(Photo: Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel)

Sawyer said the Forrest was a "rapist, a murderer and a philanderer," and called on the commission to allow a removal of a monument she said was offensive.

"I am the ancestor of slaves. We live under the shadow of that oppression," she said.

Douglass Jones, representing the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the five living heirs of Forrest were opposed to moving the statue, which towers over the graves of Forrest and his wife. Jones also said racism is "flat terrible," and said that's not what the statue represents.

"The statue is the headstone, the marker for the two graves ... You don't touch headstones, you don't bother them," Jones said.

Jones also argued that the city didn't file an appeal of an earlier commission decision to reject the city's application for a waiver to remove the statue — although Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation attorney Steven Stout said the vote didn't officially happen.

Instead, Stout said the commission dismissed the waiver because it failed to meet criteria set out in the state's preservation law — criteria that didn't apply at the time, the city successfully argued.

People attend a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but he's an extremely divisive figure in the state.(Photo: Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel)

Stout said the state's recommendation was to delay a vote on the statue until the commission's next meeting in February. But a delay wouldn't sit well with activists organized around the social media hashtag #TakeEmDown901 and some council members, who have called for immediate removal before MLK50.

The commission's decision Tuesday followed months of back-and-forth between Strickland's administration and the Historical Commission.

Last month, commission chairman Reavis Mitchell Jr., an African-American history professor at Fisk University, announced in a letter to city attorneys that the commission would delay voting on the city's waiver request until February at the earliest.

The administration has blamed the commission — and the state lawmakers who tightened preservation laws in 2016 — for delaying action on the Forrest statue, one of two Confederate monuments located in the city's Downtown parks. The other is a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who lived in Memphis for a period.

City attorneys have complained the 24 voting members of the 29-member commission include several supporters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The decades-old effort to bring the statues down has gained momentum in recent years, part of the groundswell of opinion against Confederate icons across the country. Strickland has formed a coalition of religious leaders that, at last count, numbered 177. Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell and the County Commission have also declared their support, along with the Greater Memphis Chamber and other business leaders.

Commission member Keith Norman, of Memphis, during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but heÕs an extremely divisive figure in the state.(Photo: Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel)

The Memphis City Council, then-council member Strickland included, voted in 2015 to remove the Forrest statue and to move the graves of he and his wife back to their original burial plot in Elmwood Cemetery.

The Forrest statue, installed in 1904, has a long and controversial history in Memphis. Forrest was, in his later life, a pillar of Memphis society who helped steer the city toward its defining industry of shipping. But he was also a pre-war slave trader, alleged war criminal, and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan — a group he later renounced.

The Commercial Appeal reporter Daniel Connolly contributed to this report.

Tyler Whetstone is a reporter with the Knoxville News Sentinel and Ryan Poe is a reporter with The Commercial Appeal.